Podcasts and Downloads
Need some free video and audio material to help you improve your listening comprehension, vocabulary, and even grammar? Do it all at http://www.dw-world.de/! This site is made for students of the German language and has material appropriate for you, whether you're just a beginner, or quite an advanced speaker.
Now what is a podcast, you might ask? Well, a podcast is rich media, such as audio or video, distributed via RSS. Feeds also provide updates whenever there is new content, so you don't have to remember to go to a site to check for new material. Here is a list of podcasts you might find useful...
Site | Available Feeds | |
Typing Umlauts
With a Windows PC
Hold down the Alt key and type the following numbers from the numerican keypad (right-hand of keyboard, with Num Lock on).
ä - Alt 132 ::: Ä - Alt 142 ::: ö - Alt 148
ü - Alt 129 ::: Ö - Alt 153 ::: Ü - Alt 154
ß - Alt 225
Or, for umlauts in Microsoft Word, press:
Ctrl + Shift + : and then the Letter (Ex: o for "ö“, or Shift + o for "Ö“)
OR, for more convenient typing in German outside of Word, try "Typing German Mode" - be sure to read the Readme file for instructions!
With a Mac
To get any umlaut, press Option, the letter u, and then the letter you want to put an umlaut over. To get an "ß", press Option-s.
Alternatively, press down the MAC key while typing these numbers:
Ä - 128 ::: ä - 138 ::: Ö - 133
Ü - 134 ::: ö - 154 ::: ü - 159
ß - 167
Excellent Online Dictionaries
Offline Dictionary
For those times when you need a definition but don't have access to the Internet, download the free elcombri translator here. Unfortunately though, it does not come with a definition library, but you can download one here.